This week’s Sepia Saturday image features tall ships, a
lighthouse, a windmill, and people strolling along the harbor of
Littlehampton. Although my photos
contain few of those images, I do have some of people waiting along the water.
My great aunt Helen Killeen Parker seems to have been a popular gal in the late 19-teens and early twenties in Portsmouth, Virginia, always on some sort of outing. What this occasion was and when are unknown to me.
It resembles a fishing boat, but Helen and her friends don’t appear to be doing any fishing.
It’s interesting that they were sitting on top of the boat.
The channel appears narrow, so I wonder if they were
boating through the Dismal Swamp.
Since I have no answers, I will have to wonder what this
funny little boat was and where it went.
Cruise on over to Sepia Saturday for more tales of boats, lighthouses, and windmills.
©
2014, Wendy Mathias. All rights reserved.
They look a bit like canals to me.
ReplyDeleteIt makes sense to me.
DeleteIt's a mystery but it looks as though it was a nice day for an outing.
ReplyDeleteYes, they don't seem to be suffering any.
DeleteWhatever they're doing, the photos are wonderful. I like the last two best.
ReplyDeleteHave a nice weekend.
Thanks. You have fun on your trip!
DeleteLove the way they were dressed for a day of boating; a little different than what we would wear today.
ReplyDeleteYes, I can't imagine climbing on top of the boat in a dress.
DeleteHello
ReplyDeleteThis is my first sepia Saturday , makes me the new girl
Not able to say what sort of water but its great you have them and know about your relation who is in those photos . They look like they are having fun
Jackie
Thanks for visiting! I hope you'll come back.
DeleteThat's an interesting bunch of people in that first picture. Some of the girls seem to have come more appropriately dressed for sitting around on a boat. It does look a bit like a canal doesn't it?
ReplyDeleteI wish I could confirm that it's a canal. For now, I'll just have to believe it.
DeleteIn the final photo, the foreground is very old life jackets. My grandfather had this type of life jacket on his boat.
ReplyDeleteThanks! I wondered if that's what they were.
DeleteThey do appear to be much like what I've seen in the canals, and I have an exciting DVD of such travels like that boat along the English canals, which my hubby and I would love to do someday!
ReplyDeleteI'll have to look for one.
DeleteFortunate you are to have your great aunt Helen entertaining you with her boat adventures all these years later. I really like the photo where they were sitting on top of the boat. Cool.
ReplyDeleteOh, Helen was entertaining all right. I knew her only in her late years, so it's fun to see her young and out with friends.
DeleteYep, I agree with Sharon...there are life jackets on the deck. From the looks of them 'the jackets', I wouldn't have messed up my Sunday best by wearing one either. I, Suwannee, I think they were just cruisin' the River. The first picture dock looks like a Ferry dock. I think I've got it...it's a picture riddle...Ferry me down the Suwannee River on a lazy Sunday afternoon! TaDa!!!
ReplyDeleteSue CollectInTexasGal~Today's Post~
Cousin Lucy and Husband Sock
Or maybe they sang, "I got a mule and her name is Sal, fifteen miles on the Dismal Canal." ???
DeleteThe Dismal Swamp ... now doesn't that ignite the imagination !
ReplyDeleteGreat name, eh?
DeleteOoh and yes....that first photo ...is that what they would call a canal lock??
ReplyDeleteDid you hack into my Blogger dashboard to read NEXT week's Sepia Saturday??
DeleteWonderful photographs - the one of the group sitting on the boat is particularly striking.
ReplyDeleteThanks. I like that one too.
DeleteI think "since you have no answers" you can make up the best event :)
ReplyDeleteLovely pictures
Yes -- I'll do that. Thanks for granting permission.
DeleteFine series of photographs. I go along with the canal idea.
ReplyDeleteThen "canal" it is!
DeleteI am not too sure if I would feel safe in some of these boats, but it is great to see photos of ancestors enjoying themselves.
ReplyDeleteYes, you do have to worry about sea-worthiness.
DeleteIt looks like a canal to me too- nice group of photos!
ReplyDeleteMajority rules!
DeleteA super post, Wendy. I think the photos are from the Intracoastal Waterway in Chesapeake, VA. It goes past the Great Dismal Swamp on its way down through the Outer Banks to SC, GA and eventually Florida. The last photo looks like the part I've paddled. The Dismal Swamp provides lots of great ghost stories and tall tales. I bet there is one lurking in your family closet too.
ReplyDeleteThat's what I'm thinking too. Helen's photos make me think she didn't venture too far from home.
DeleteThe boat looks like a big version of "Tuffy the Tugboat" from a Little Golden Book I used to have.
ReplyDeleteI thought too it looked a bit like a tugboat but not REALLY because it doesn't look beefy enough. But a Golden Book version, definitely.
DeleteThose are some great photos Wendy! Love seeing those outfits they are wearing. Your great aunt Helen certainly was adventurous!
ReplyDeleteShe seemed to have taken that camera with her everywhere.
DeleteLucky you that she did!
DeleteWonderful photos to have in your collection Wendy. What fun.
ReplyDeleteGreat old photos of your relatives on a boating outing. I agree with Alan.
ReplyDeleteThanks!
DeleteLove the guy with the hat and tie.
ReplyDeleteReminds me a bit of Smokey the Bear.
DeleteI have seen similar boats to this, but it was at Disneyland haha. Not really the same thing after all, but Walt Disney must have seen this type of boat as well to base his boats on them.
ReplyDeleteHA -- are you humming "It's a Small World"?
DeleteThe first picture is my favorite,
ReplyDeletebecause that boat seems rather small to me
to be standing atop of it like that...
"The Dismal Swamp"?!?
What a name...
:D~
HUGZ
The first picture grabs me too because the people are so small. How far away was Helen from the boat anyway?
DeleteThe swamp got its name from one of the early surveyors who was trying to establish a boundary between the Virginia and North Carolina colonies. He had nothing good to say about the area which he described as "dismal."
It makes you wonder. In the first photo I get the impression that the water looks as thought it has greasy patches. Interesting.
ReplyDelete"Greasy" - YES! The water does look greasy. When I first saw the photo, I didn't think it was water at all, but the boat convinced me.
Delete